FOOTBALL.

Auckland Star, Volume L, Issue 125, 27 May 1919, Page 8

FOOTBALL.

RUGBY. The games on Saturday indicated that "you never know. - ' With the steady return of the "" Diggers'" who have kept up their form in the military service games the several teams keep strengthening from week to wee_. and surprises are the order of the day. Last week the chief surprise was the defeat of College Killes by Craft.in. a team that, on present form, will take , power of beating. Then Ponsonby, which team was not at first taken very seriously, and has been quietly picking both points and strength, gave the ( \ ramiuar .School Old Hoys a big go. ending in a draw, which gives the western team the lead in the championship. Parneli had the best of the draw, and has made the most of it. with the result that the team has bee-i reinforced by promising material, which, though unpolished, has enabled the side to get well up with the championship favourites. The championship points now stand: — l'ts. l'ts. <'h. P. W. L. 11. For. Agst. l'ts. Ponsonby .. :; 2 — 1 ."7 :;o 5 College Itirles :t 2 1 - - 4<i 2s 4 University .. :; •_' 1 — ..4 32 4 Parneli W 2 1 — 4ii 27 4 Grammar .. :t 1 1 1 "4 __» :\ Oraftou .... - l 1 2 — .'- 40 2 Marist rtros. :: 1 2 — :\2 __S 2 Newton :t — 3 — 13 100 — BRIGHT. BREEZY, AND EXCITINGThe game between College Rifles and Grafton was one to warm the hearts of Rugby enthusiasts, in that it was an exposition of the hard, fast, clean and finished piny that one got among the, best clubs when N.Z. Rugby was at its zenith. There was not a dull moment during the forty minutes, and the scoring chances that wore missel were merely those arising from occasions when every player implicated had instinctively to do the right thine; in a fraction of timeto beat a defence which took advantage of the slightest pause for thought on the other side. Wert- the game played over again, with the same teams, it is doubtful which would win. True, the Rillcs' score consisted of three tries, one of which was converted, while Grafton got there- with an unconverted try and three goals from the field, including a potted goal, but while the Rillcs were unlucky in missing a score through Grierson losing the ball when over the line, they got their first try luckily, and Grafton can claim bad luck in that the referee was on the blind side of the ruck when Mynott got across with the ball. On the whole the College Rillcs" backs handled the ball better than did tlieir opponents, but against that the Grafton forwards did slightly the better work in the loose, and the win for Grafton by 13 to 11 was well merited. On Saturday's performance the Grafton .pack will be hard to beat, for in addition to Hansch, Marshall and Daniell giving it solidity in the scrum, reach on the line, antl breaking power in the heavy work, it has excellent hookers in Stanley and Menzies, and nippy supporters in Unloose in Gubb. Rankin and Burns (rover). Tin- Rillcs" vanguard nearly matched Grafton iv all respects except in their ruck and loose play, there being an inclination to stand off the hard work until the last few minutes of the game, when they certainly showed to aclvantaue. I The same dash and determination in the early stages of the game would probably have altered the result. Fletcher showed' out prominently by his pace, and Rloni-Ji.-1.1. Watson. Grunt and Gallagher up- I peart-d to advantage on occasions, but Sutherland (rover) was the particular I jagged thorn that troubled Grafton, both | in the loose and where the grunts were I the only means of identification. The Rifles have little reason for fault with their rearguard. Time and again, both individually ami in unison, they demonstrated their ability, well fed by Wright. Grierson's faculty lot getting off tin- mark at top speed.'and Wilson's swerve proved strong assets to their side and brought these players into the limelight, but the greatest danger to Grafton always came from Nisbet and Laxon, the 1 former of whom worried his opponents ! continually by his nippinesa and ability to convert defence to attack. Heard was not quite at home as full-back, a [losition to which he is not yet accustomed. Kingston gave a finished display as' full-back for Grafton, until his retire- . ment. He has a nice swerve, kicking ability, sure hands, and the right idea of punting for position when his side is. on the attack or the run of the play j leaves a chance of swinging from defence to attack. Unfortunately he is still in the ranks of the military convalescents, ! and is not sufficiently recovered to dis- i regard hard knocks. I Randall. Hughes and Nixon gave a good display in the three-quarter line, ! and though their handling was not so! crisp as that of their opponents it gave, promise of better things in the near j future. Mynott and "Hunter" cave a! good display in positions where Grafton > has hitherto failed, and their collabora-l' tion in the short, sharp passing system I gave Rifles a world of trouble, in enabling ' the latter to get away on tbe jump and it draw the defence. When Hushes gets ' better acquainted with his outside file's •' play there should be plenty of scoring ' chances for his wings. i Irving's play was generally sound and ' good, though his attack would be im-i 1 proved if he varied his game occasionally ' ; by a presto puss to Mynot* instead of '1 trying to always do a bit himself first ! antl thus exposing to the other side the ' development of the attack. Burns wa:.. 1 handicapped by having to drop back.' from the position of rover forward to;! that of full-back, hut his work was sound ' generally, ami his dropped goal was a' 1 beauty, to say nothing of the placed goal! 1 by which he pa-,,, his side the lead. " ;j rXIY.-.Rs|TY"S DAY HIT. I' University were up against a very' l easy proposition on Saturday hist, when they met Newton at Eden" Park. T.ie playing area was in excellent condition and len: every facility for back play, ' in which department the students are ' particularly strong. While Newton ' were able to confine the tussle t.. the! 1 forwards, they cmte-te.i the honours ' fairly evenly, hit on. c the rearguard ' p.'t going the movement usually ter-1 ' initiated over their scoring line. ' With ' the weak opposition 'Varsity were ' inclined to take things, after .-coring a ' few tries, in a more or less nonchalant ) manner, ami Newton sprang a couple !• of surprises on them, and scored twice.l ar,i had bad luck in not having two ' further scores placed to then- credit. ' The Newton team, worked hard ;:_._in-t! heavy odds, Kelly' doing a 1..! of good work in the forward ranks. Ail of the blue team hail opportunities. The ba.kc are strong and have a useful recruit in Marks, who donned his old colours after an absence of several years. He would , make a good centre provided he lost _»tendency- to hang on, t

PARNELL V. MARIST OLD BOYS. On the whole run of the game there was not as much between these two teams as the score would indicate. For the final few minutes Parneli certainly held their opponents completely, but their four scores to one were the result of making tbe most of opportunities which fell, also to the other side, but were not taken advantage of. Of the winning backs, Simpson stood out by himself. He was well supported by Tlnmas, on the wing, Caaley, behind the pack, also playing a solid game. Of a pack that worked hard, but lacked cohesion, Cleave and Berrick were always to the fore. The weakest point in Parneli. play was the tackling. Nearly all of the redo displayed a tendency to "go high - ' for their man--a fault that threatened to cost them dear on more than one occasion. The blues made a much better showing than in their two previous games, but are not yet the side that, with the material composing them, they should be. The absence of Beehan in the back division was certainly felt, for ail the work here fell upon ft urns and Dyer. Bannister, at full-back, was reliable, however, his clear fielding being a feature. Peters was, on the day's play, the pick of the Marist side, and proved a very difficult man for the reds to tackle. On several occasion,* lie forced his way through almost the whole pack. The match was played keenly, but in line spirit throughout.